


Angel With A Shotgun

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Action, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angelstuck, Demonstuck, Fantasy, Humanstuck, Multi, Mystery, RPS - Freeform, Romance, Supernatural - Freeform, Suspense, angel!karkat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-03-23 01:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3749692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John had stumbled into it on accident during one of his walks into the forest near his apartment in Connecticut. It had been a long and stressful day for him and he wanted to unwind. A relaxing walk through the forest at night usually helped. This night, however, held a little surprise for him.</p><p>After all, it’s not everyday you see an angel and rescue it from death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fallen Angel

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, both the title and the summary are awful and I am terribly sorry for that. Second, I know I have like a ton of unfinished stuff, but this is my (very late) contribution to 4/13 and I wanted it to be published. I already have the plot outlined and all the details listed down so it's only a matter of my writing speed to determine how fast I'll update.
> 
> Anyway, this was SUPPOSED to be for 4/13 but I fell asleep on it so it's WAY late. As the summary and tags say, it's JohnKat angelstuck-demonstuck-humanstuck-supernaturalstuck bonanza.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy, tell me if there are any grammatical errors or stuff. Or just tell me what you think. Enjoy~

Karkat heaved out a pained gasp as he plummeted down from the sky and crashed into the hard ground covered with the leaves of fall. He probably had some bones broken -an arm maybe- but they would heal, it was no big deal. For an angel. “Goddammit Kankri,” he swore as he struggled to stand, taking short pained breaths. Once he deemed himself steady enough, he began to crawl out of the crater he created with his harsh landing to Earth.

“You didn’t have to throw me down that hard,” he chided with gritted teeth. One good thing about being on Earth was that he didn’t have to listen to Kankri’s extremely long lectures. He staggered to the nearest tree and leaned on it, catching his breath before he began assessing himself for any injuries.

Surprisingly, he did not have any broken bones in his body. There were a lot of cuts and bruises, his elbows and knees had some scraped skin for the matter but nothing too serious. He landed better than he felt. Moving from his body, he started to inspect his wings and his face immediately fell.

His left wing was considerably fine. There were only a few cuts that leaked red blood and a few missing feathers. His right wing was in a more disastrous state. The bone was almost completely snapped in half, leaving most of it in a dangling mess. Most of the feathers were drenched in his own bright red blood that still poured out from the cuts and tears in the membrane. “This can’t be happening,” he gasped in disbelief.

He could live with a broken wing. It would take weeks to heal in heaven, and probably a few months on Earth- years if he was unlucky, but he would heal. He wouldn’t be able to fly, which was his worst nightmare, but he could survive it. He could stand against demons alone, survive with nothing and fight with everything, but this...this was too much.

His once pure, pristine white wings were soiled. They were black, and tainted, and impure. He was a fallen angel.

He choked as realization dawned on him. He would never be able to go back, he was kicked out. Heaven didn’t want or need him. He slumped against the tree, cradling his head, praying this was only a dream. He squeezed his eyes shut and blocked out everything. This was only a dream. He’d had them before, violent dreams, savage dreams, but they were only dreams. In a moment, when he opened his eyes, he would wake up to the poofy clouds he was so fond of insulting and the bright light and all the angels singing choruses in the sky.

He slowly opened his eyes and his heart sank when he still found himself amid dense trees. “Of course,” he wheezed. “When has anything ever gone right for me?” Questioning himself, he pulled away from the tree and limped away. The prospect of danger keeping him moving, he thanked his years as an angel for that drive.

‘That’s all gone now though,’ he thought bitterly. He shook his head lightly, stopping immediately when pain danced in his head and his vision blurred. God, he wasn’t supposed to be like this. Angels weren’t supposed to bleed so heavily. Then again, he was no longer an angel…

Despite the searing pain coursing through his veins and pulsing under his skin, he kept moving. Even if he was fallen (God, he hated that word), the likelihood of demons patrolling these words frightened him. He would never admit it though, but if one indeed found him, he would be defenseless. That thought alone made him keep moving even if his body _and mind_ protested. What was the point of living when you have nothing to live for? Heaven was what he had lived for and now it was gone. Family, friends, all gone. He was nothing but an empty shell.

As he was aimlessly ambling through the woods, thoughts began to swirl in his mind, congregating, and making him feel sick to his stomach. They created unpleasant questions -why did heaven kick him out?- and created equally unpleasant answers; he was unneeded, unwanted, useless, pathetic.

He groaned at the thoughts and willed them away, but they were insistent on making his life miserable. It couldn’t be because he was useless, or unneeded, or unwanted. He was one of their best warriors! As he continued to counter every miserable thought, he slipped and began to think about the reasons himself.

Sure, he was a bit of a troublemaker, he did some stuff that would make the majority of the other angels appalled but everyone has their mischievous streaks though, right? Sure, he loved to swear and call everyone names, but everyone else did that too, right? He loved to pick fights, but that wasn’t enough for him to get kicked out, right? His shoulders slumped as he noticed that he wasn’t like any of the other angels at all. They were different from him, he was different from them. He was the odd one out. He was the freak. The mutant…

It was an insult slung at him from a demon he would rather not meet again but it stuck in his mind and ate away at him. With some help from his friends, he was able to push it back into the deep recesses of his mind where his deepest thoughts lurk. The sun doesn’t shine there. With his string of thoughts though, it came floating back up to haunt him. With it, came the face of the one demon he truly feared. Eridan Ampora, King of Hell.

In his musings, he unwittingly smashed right into a tree, sending agonizing pain shooting through his entire body. He let out a very undignified cry and crumbled down on the ground. In his pain, he began to think of uplifting thoughts.

‘Of course he wasn’t _really_ fallen. It was probably a test!’ the optimistic side of his mind reasoned. ‘Yes, a test. All the other angels had a test. Sollux did; his was to fight against a pair of demons threatening to completely sink the island of Japan. He was sent to Earth, as a human, sure, but he was also probably clueless and wondering what he did wrong to be kicked out of heaven.

‘Terezi had one too!’ At the thought of his former well...companion, a smile made its way onto Karkat’s face. She was given the task of guiding a human who had strayed back on the right path. She was sent down as a fallen angel as well, everything had to perfectly alright.

‘But she never came back,’ the negative part of his mind argued. ‘She came to earth as a fallen angel and she never returned.’ The voice was persistent. ‘She fell just like you.’ He growled, more angry that Terezi’s name was being slandered -by his own thoughts no less!- than being reminded that he had fallen.

There were rumours, since she had disappeared from the angels radar, that she had fallen from grace and fell in love with the human she was supposed to guide. Karkat did not believe a single word of it. He adamantly refused to believe in those rumours when they started, when heaven itself recognized it as the reason Terezi never returned, and he certainly wouldn’t believe it now, when his own mind was smearing her name in taint. “Those are just rumours!” he told himself loudly. Somehow, he knew he was wrong, but he obstinately turned away from that idea.

As he sat slumped beside the tree, a few bushes to his left rustled. He immediately tensed, and tried to disappear in the shadows. His body won’t move. He was too tired, too wounded, too bruised to even move. ‘Is it a demon?’ his mind raced at the possibility. ‘I can’t, not now, not while I’m like this...’

A small tuft of dark hair popped from the shrubbery. Whether it was brown, or black, he couldn’t tell, the dark made it impossible. A young man with glasses emerged from the foliage, brushing leaves and twigs off his hair. “Uh, hello?” he greeted cautiously, peering at him. “I know you’re there Mr. Angel.”

Karkat sighed and stopped even trying to inch away. If he was indeed a demon, he would accept death with pride. Huh, maybe that was why he was kicked out, pride. Well, at least one of his questions were answered.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you!” he...giggled? If this was a demon, it deserved a reward for nailing innocence. Karkat scoffed as he came around to face him. “Man, you’re hurt really bad... Can you make it to my apartment?”

“If,” he croaked and he coughed once, spitting blood. He noticed that he was worse than he thought. He coughed once more and tried again, “If it’s across the country, there’s no way I can make it, dipshit.” He allowed a smirk of triumph and pride to make its way on his face at the bewildered expression on the others face.

Karkat thought he would make some remark about it, maybe give one of his own sardonic comments but he just laughed. He laughed without mocking or contempt. He laughed for the sake of laughing and the sound was so pure, it rang in Karkat’s ears like a church bell, like the singing of angels back in heaven.

“Man!” he exclaimed, calming himself down. “That was something! You’re definitely not like the angels in the movies. Here, let me help you up.” He offered his hand to Karkat and despite him not wanting to take it, he did. The huge smile on his face made it hard for Karkat to say no.

The other slung his shoulder around Karkat’s avoiding his wings and carefully began walking in the direction he came from, humming a cheerful tune. “Your wings are heavy,” he commented lightly halfway through their walk.

Karkat rolled his eyes. “Did you expect them to be light, sugarmuffin?” he spat sarcastically. “Well, sorry to disappoint, princess, but they aren’t.”

The stranger laughed again. “Wow! You really are something.” Karkat didn’t know whether it was a compliment or an insult. “By the way, my name’s John Egbert. What’s yours?”

“Karkat,” he answered flatly. All suspicions of Egbert was erased the moment he got close enough to smell him. It was unusual, but demons carried a familiar scent. It was barely noticeable, and only an angel would be able to smell it if it was so, but every demon had the distinctive scent of sulfur. It was similar to the scent of striking a match. Egbert didn’t carry that scent at all.

“Okay, then, Karkat, we’re here,” he announced cheerily. Karkat looked from the ground where he was staring, up at Egbert before looking at the direction the other was looking at. It was a small house, but it was enough. Anywhere beats the forest.

Egbert led them inside and promptly shut the door. He guided Karkat into the living room and seated him on a couch. Karkat protested. “I’ll get this dirty you stupid fucker!” he screamed but Egbert shushed him by pushing him down on the couch. The soft cushion instantly killed any complaints he may have left.

“It’s just a couch, Karkat,” Egbert sighed. “I can get a new one. Now, stay here.” With those instructions, he left. Karkat peeked past the back of the couch to look at the human. Egbert was busying himself by spreading salt around and drawing archaic symbols on the walls and windows and spray-painting devils traps all over the trap. Karkat frowned. No human should know this much.

“Okay,” said Egbert after finishing and went back to the living room to join Karkat carrying a first-aid kit. “Let me see the cuts I can easily fix, first,” he requested, smile ever present on his face.

The light in Egbert’s living room allowed Karkat to get a really good look at him. It turns out his hair was a light brown and seemed to look like the wind had blown them to the side. His eyes were like the cloudless sky and shone with exuberance and something else that Karkat couldn’t quite pin down. He was pretty average but he had quite a few muscles. What the hell had this guy been through?

Egbert gingerly cupped Karkat’s hand and began to bandage it carefully. Karkat noted how his hands were scarred and calloused, despite how his sunkissed fawn-brown skin looked smooth. Egbert didn’t seem to notice and continued bandaging his arm. When he finished, he took the other and began working on that..

“Okay,” Egbert called him back to attention once he was through with both his arms and any other injuries on his body. “You’re gonna turn around and I’m gonna look at your wings okay?”

Karkat scoffed. “I’m not a child, fuckwit.” He turned around so Egbert could have a better look at his wings.

“Do you mind if I take your shirt off?” Egbert asked. “It’s gonna be hard for me to treat your wings if it’s on.”

Karkat rolled his eyes, even when Egbert couldn’t see it. “My clothes are a mangled mess, dickwhistle, I couldn’t give a flying rat’s ass if you ripped them right off,” he shrugged. “Be careful with them though. If you damage them any more than they are now, I’ll rip your eyeballs out from your sockets, shove them down your throat so you can see me rip your organs out,” he threatened emptily. He wouldn’t do that to a human, and even if he wanted to, he can’t.

Egbert snickered as he did exactly that; one swift tug ripped Karkat’s shirt right at the seams. Karkat let out an indignant squawk at that which made Egbert laugh harder. He seemed to ignore Karkat’s second statement altogether as he began to work on his wings quickly, but gently.

“Karkat,” he called again when Karkat began to doze off. Karkat immediately snapped awake and flexed his wings in reflex. Egbert swatted his leg lightly in retaliation. “Hey! You’re going to get the bandages undone, idiot.”

Karkat relaxed once more but resisted the temptation to sleep. Angels didn’t sleep. Even when he was sent to earth for a mission, he never fell asleep. It was a human thing to do. And he wasn’t human. “What did you want, Egbert?”

“Well, I was thinking that, maybe you could just call me John,” he said almost sheepishly. “Calling me Egbert is too formal.” He began finishing up on Karkat’s wings. The feathered appendages were bandaged up as good as John was able to.

“I’ll call you whatever I want, Egbert,” hissed Karkat, making John sigh.

“Yeah, I suppose you can..Oh!” he exclaimed, hitting his fist into his open palm. “I was gonna ask you if you think you’re fit to travel. You’re an angel, right?” Karkat nodded. “Then demons are coming after you. We need to get out of here before they come.”

With that said, John hurriedly left the living room, grabbed two duffel bags and began shoveling in necessities; food, water, clothing, blankets, money. Karkat’s eyes widened when John began shoving in weapons, knives, daggers, guns, and he swore he snuck in a small hammer.

“Hey, Egbert,” said Karkat. “How do you know all this stuff?”

He arched an eyebrow when John began fidgeting. The movement was hardly noticeable but to Karkat’s trained eyes, it was a dead giveaway; John was hiding something. John pretended not to hear and continued to pack, even when he had zipped up the bags. he was just awkwardly patting some clothes that he deemed unnecessary.

“You seem like you’ve done this before,” Karkat observed, noting how John tensed. “Like you’ve done it repeatedly and frequently.” As he continued, John continued to squirm.

Finally, after a brief moment, John cracked. “My dad- he had a journal,” he started, avoiding Karkat’s gaze, his form stiffening up if that was possible. “He wrote down all this stuff about monsters and goblins and vampires and werewolves and demons. At first, I thought he was just a crazy old man. Now I realized that every time he just left me at home to go do his mysterious job, he was protecting me. I’ve been living the same fucked up and nomadic way that he did.”

Karkat narrowed his eyes. John wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t telling the truth either. He was simply telling facts, but avoiding the question. Something happened to him but Karkat was too tired to pry.

“Anyway,” John coughed, changing the subject. “Can you walk? We’re going to need to move soon. I have a car, we can take that. Then we’ll change it halfway to my friend’s house so they can’t track us, then we’ll ride with him. I probably should give you some new clothes huh? Can demons smell you? I suppose I need to put some cologne on you too…”

“One at a time, Egderp!” Karkat demanded as John began babbling. “First, give me the clothes, then spray me with that human perfume of yours, then explain your glorious plan to me while we’re in the car.” John nodded.

“Of course!” he smiled and gave Karkat a plain black shirt and a pair of black jeans after he quickly doused them in perfume. Karkat took it and hurriedly changed in the bathroom. He exited fairly quickly with a lump in his back where his wings should be. He could retract his uninjured one almost all the way but his right had to stay out.

John laughed at the comical sight before giving Karkat a beat-up brown trenchcoat to wear, amply spraying it with perfume as well. The lump of his wings were barely noticeable. “There!” John exclaimed. “Now you look just like a human. Now let’s go.”

‘Yeah,’ Karkat agreed bitterly. ‘I do, and that’s the goddamned problem.’ He sat in the backseat to give his wings more leeway and they drove off into the night.


	2. On The Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and John are on the way to Texas to visit John's friend and encounter someone along the way. The unexpected visitor brings up things in John's past that makes the human irritable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I didn't get to put this in the last one, but here you go:  
> 'text' - thoughts  
> "text" - dialogue
> 
> That was really short...Anyway, I hope you guys like this one! I told you guys I'd be updating this one faster~
> 
> Enjoy~

Karkat let out a small gasp as he was woken from his sleep by a rather harsh jolt and the honking of horns. He stood up straight and let out a pained yell. His cry woke John up from his sleep and he let out a squeak when the blazing light of a truck seared into his retinas. He quickly turned the wheel and the car jerked back to the right lane. Karkat gripped the seats to keep him from sliding.

“Man!” John exclaimed. “That was something.”

“No shit, Fuckbert,” Karkat growled. “You need to work on your driving skills you retarded assfuck!”

John laughed good naturedly at Karkat’s insults. “You might want to slow down on your insults there, beep beep meow. I’m the only one who can get you treated you know!”

Karkat brought his eyebrows together as he thought. “What the fuck is a beep-beep-meow?” he finally asked out of curiosity. At his question, John laughed once more.

“It’s your name, silly!” he chuckled, risking to look at him once more. “You’re name’s Car-Cat. Beep beep is the sound of a car and meow is the sound of a cat. That makes you beep beep meow.”

Karkat just blankly stared at him. Was this guy serious? John didn’t look back at the road and he strayed the car again. “John, watch the fuck out!” Karkat nearly screamed as another car was approaching them.

John grinned and turned the car back on track expertly despite there being minimal light on the road. “You said my name!” he cheered happily. “Knew I could get you to say it sooner or later, Kitty!”

Karkat groaned at realization before flushing with embarrassment. “Don’t call me that!” he screeched indignantly. John laughed again and focused entirely on the road.

Karkat huffed at the sight of John’s still triumphant smile and opted for staring out the window. Gods, he was infuriating and yet strangely endearing. He lightly slapped himself when he thought John wasn’t looking at the rear-view mirror. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts. He shouldn’t be thinking like this. He would simply get himself healed and fly back up heaven himself. He only needed John for a few months or so.

John stopped driving after a while and exited the car, motioning for Karkat to follow him. The angel wordlessly obeyed, careful not to hit either his head or his back on the way out of the metal box. Once he shut the door, John threw him one of the duffel bags he packed and he effortlessly caught it.

Karkat raised his eyebrow as John began walking off into the dark towards a barely noticeable shack in the middle of nowhere. “We’re going to switch cars,” he explained, answering Karkat’s unspoken questions.

“After we do that, I’ll set this one on fire so that whoever may be chasing us would stop. Maybe,” he added, shrugging. He then abruptly turned around and flashed Karkat one of his widest smiles. “Not that I know anything about demons anyway!”

Karkat just rolled his eyes until John turned his back on him again. He was lying. Horribly. John just said things about his father writing a journal about demons and monsters a few hours ago -Karkat estimated- (the sky was still dark) and now he was spouting off about not knowing a thing about demons at all. What the hell?

Karkat didn’t say anything and they made their way to the small shack pretty quickly. Karkat found out, after seeing John pull the tarp from another car, that the shack was merely a poorly constructed garage. There were no furniture and the only thing inside apart from cobwebs and mice was the Chevrolet Chevelle that John had just unraveled.

“Gimme your bag,” said John and Karkat readily did. It wasn’t his in the first place. John packed it along with the other one in the trunk which, Karkat observed, had a false bottom and a plethora of marks and sigils that warded every creature of the night. John was an idiot to think that he could fool Karkat.

“Okay! That’s it then, just gotta set the other car on fire.” He was still smiling despite his intention of arson. Karkat merely watched him as he took out a small bottle filled with kerosene. John shoved a small handkerchief at the mouth of it and set it delicately at the inside of the car. “After you,” he flourished his hands around dramatically and opened the door for Karkat. Karkat rolled his eyes again as he entered. John shut the door and went into the drivers seat and pulled the car back on the road.

Making sure that there were no cars nor cameras to catch him, he flung the bottle of kerosene expertly at his parked car as he sped down the road. The bottle smashed against the hood and erupted into flames. John gave a jovial hoot at the sight of the flames and laughed as the embers faded from their sight.

“What the fuck John?” Karkat cried out. “Did you just laugh after setting something on fire?” Karkat was sure there was a human word for that: arsonist. John was an arsonist. He nodded in agreement to himself.

“Yeah!” John exclaimed. “Don’t worry Karkat, I won’t light you on fire.” His reassurance did nothing. Karkat didn’t even suspect John would set him on fire. The kid looked too innocent to do something like that. Then again, he did just make a car burst into flames while laughing happily, so…

Karkat groaned once more at John’s newfound cheeriness and decided to leave it alone. John’s personal life was unimportant to him. It’s not like he cared about the kid. He went back to his position beside the window and watched the scenery go by. He sighed when he found out that his trained eyes were losing their acuity. He could once see the world the same, whether it was light or dark. Now, all he could see was blackness.

They rode in silence for another few hours. The only noise was the humming of the engine and the occasional honk from another car. Bored, Karkat laid back down on the back seat and dozed off.

He was woken by a frantic John. Karkat snapped into alertness and quickly surveyed the area. Their car had broken down in the middle of a deserted road. No cars were passing by. “John,” he whispered with urgency. John turned his panicked eyes to him. “What happened? Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” John admitted. Karkat felt his heartbeat speeding up. John didn’t know where they were and he probably didn’t know why they stopped. By the looks of him, he didn’t know how to fight either.

Karkat took a tentative sniff of the air and he froze. John watched him expectantly. “Go get some weapons,” he instructed quietly. John nodded and exited the car. The air was humid and stale and carried a distinctive scent: the appalling odour of a newly lit match.

Karkat exited the car and shut the door carefully. He took the shotgun that John handed him and cocked it. He was much used to blades -like his sickles- but he didn’t have them here. Besides, he would like to think he was a good shot.

A strong gust of wind washed over them and with it came the rotten stench of demon. The gust rained down a few leaves on them and blew dust everywhere. Both Karkat and John covered their eyes from the gritty powder, despite knowing better. Karkat was hardly surprised when he saw a demon standing casually in front of them with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“Nevwer thought I’d see you again,” he drawled and Karkat stiffened up at the sound of his voice and his garbled speech. Both John and the demon noticed it, the former freezing up like a deer in headlights and the latter smirking. “Oh, so you recognize me, little angel?”

“Fuck off, Ampora,” Karkat growled, placing himself between John and Cronus. Cronus looked like an ordinary human, if you ignore the grey skin, lightning-shaped horns, ears, fangs, and black bat-like wings.

Cronus chuckled, sauntering over to them casually. He was wearing a white tank top with a ♒ printed in bright violet, exposing his taut muscles. His black pants were skin-tight and clung to him and were tucked inside grey combat boots. His ink-black hair was gelled back, revealing a scar in the same shape as the print on his shirt. Two horns in the shape of lightning sprouted from his head and were vibrantly coloured going from a bright red-orange base to yellow tips. His ears were pointed and resembled fins, tines coming from the edges to connect delicate webbing. His fingers were webbed as well and, Karkat guessed, so were his feet.

As Cronus walked closer, Karkat noticed how John froze up and hid behind him, like he was afraid. ‘That can’t be right,’ Karkat thought. In the brief time that he knew him, he was always so upbeat and enthusiastic and he didn’t seem to be that bothered by demons. ‘He seemed so indifferent towards them, he shouldn’t be scared...’ His suspicions were confirmed when John began to shake.

Cronus arched an eyebrow high and snickered when he noticed. “Your friend is frightened, little angel,” he whistled. Another gust of wind blew towards them and Cronus disappeared. Karkat’s heart skipped a beat when he heard John’s strangled gasp. He quickly turned around and the sight made him sick to his stomach.

John was frozen on his spot, sweat rolling down his forehead and his breathing quick and ragged. Cronus was behind him, one arm slung over his shoulder casually and the other tilting his chin up. The demon took a quick whiff of John and a puzzled expression crossed his face. “You seem familiar,” he commented but he didn’t get to finish. Karkat quickly took aim and fired.

Cronus disappeared and the bullet flew past John so closely that it disturbed the air around him, making his breath hitch. Karkat quickly turned back around, assuming that was where Cronus disappeared to.

He was right and he barely jumped out of the way before Cronus’s webbed hand came down at the spot he was standing just milliseconds ago. His claws sank into the concrete easily and he pulled it back as easily. He whistled in appreciation at Karkat’s speed even when the angel knows he could only last a few more minutes.

John had bandaged his wounds but he could only do so much. Sooner or later, they would start bleeding again and if he bleeds, his blood would be a beacon to every demon within a one-mile radius. He couldn’t risk it.

“What do you want!” he demanded, standing straight despite the pain. Fuck, he barely moved and he was already feeling like shit. Cronus obviously noticed and skipped -he fucking skipped- closer to them. Karkat quickly stood as close to John as he can while keeping his eyes on the demon.

“Nothing much,” Cronus shrugged. “Just vwondering howv _he_ ” he pointed to John, “is travwelling vwith the likes of _you_.”

John let out a shaky breath at that. Do they know each other? Karkat risked a glance back at John to find him staring right at Cronus. Karkat turned back to Cronus. “What the fuck do you want, Cronus?”

“Like I said, nothing...Though I did come here for something,” he added thoughtfully. “My brother sent me, I’m sure you knowv him?” Karkat shivered at the mention of him. “Oh, good, you do. He vwants to say that since you’re fallen nowv,” he paused and began to laugh.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Cronus snickered, his laughter dying down but the smirk on his face remained, taunting Karkat. His first instinct was to wipe if off his face by smashing his smug-ass face into the pavement but he didn’t have the capacity to do it. And he had to protect John.

“It’s just that I nevwer thought that Kanky’s little brother vwould turn out to be a fallen angel,” he finished. Karkat’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Kankri had never mentioned anyone named Cronus, much less a demon. Kankri hated them, loathed them. He was the one who proposed the plan to completely wipe them off the face of the earth after all... 

Karkat blinked at the thought. He couldn’t remember that plan...He couldn’t remember Kankri at all. “Judging by the look on your face, I’m guessing he doesn’t talk about me much,” Cronus mumbled, cutting off Karkat’s thoughts. The angel swore he could see disappointment on his face though but he disregarded it. Demons didn’t have feelings. They were empty. And with Cronus’s interruption, his train of thought has been completely derailed. He forgot what he was thinking about again.

Cronus sighed. “Man that sucks!” he chuckled again as he scratched his head again, all trace of emotion gone. Karkat must have been imagining things earlier. “Anyvway, vwhat I came here for...oh! To delivwer you a message. To quote my dear brother,

“‘Tell Kar that he wwould regret ever doing that. I wwill hunt him down until he can’t wwalk. I wwill make sure that he suffers for the rest of his pathetic, angelic life. And if you see him, make sure that he gets beaten, bloody. I wwant his disgusting putrid stench spread across the pavvement like paint.’

“So he says.” After finishing Cronus grinned, revealing sharp, shark-like teeth. “But of course, I vwon’t hit you. It’s going to leavwe a bad impression on Kanks. Evwen more, anyvway,” he shrugged again. “Vwell, that’s it! Bye Karkat, and the human too.”

He backed away when he was done and spread his large wings. He beat them once, and then twice, lifting him off the ground and sending waves of grit and sand in Karkat and John’s faces. Once airborne, he flapped his wings faster, rising higher and higher. He was about fifteen feet from the ground when he stopped beating his wings wildly, slowing down a tad to stay at the same altitude.

“Oh,” Karkat heard him. “So that’s where I saw him,” Cronus muttered. If not for his hearing, the little phrase would have escaped him. “Johnathan Egbert...number 00413.” Abruptly, Cronus rose again before he angled down, heading straight to the ground. As Cronus inched closer, Karkat shielded John from the impact he knew would come from his descent.

A great gust swept over them once more and Cronus disappeared, appearing to be swallowed up by the ground he dove into.

Karkat turned to look at John who was still standing like a statue. “Hey, Egbert,” he called, trying to get him to focus. His eyes were staring at nothing. “Egbert, look at me.” He snapped his fingers but John’s eyes still didn’t focus.

Grinding his teeth together, he slapped John lightly. “John Fucking Egbert, look at me!” It was probably the slap (or maybe his shouting) but John suddenly came back to him. Immediately he gasped, like how Karkat woke, but much more violently. “Shit, John, get it together.”

John continued to breath harshly and Karkat set his gun atop the car to try and get him to calm down better. “John, the fucktard’s gone. He can’t hurt you now,” Karkat reassured. He wasn’t sure if Cronus was really gone but he needed to calm John down. “John, deep breaths.”

John did as he said and took a massive gulp of air before breathing it out. He repeated the process multiple times until his breathing evened out. “John?” Karkat tried, nodding to himself when John focused his sky-blue eyes on him. “Good, you’re back. Mind telling me what happened there?”

“It’s nothing,” John mumbled, pulling away from Karkat’s proximity and picking up the gun he set atop the car and putting it back in the trunk. “Don’t worry about it.” Even though John insisted, Karkat shrugged out of his grip.

“Answers John,” Karkat demanded, hands on his hip. Fuck, he could feel pain crawling up his spine now that the threat of a demon was gone and John was okay. Mostly. “I want answers. How do you know him? What happened to you back there?”

“It’s called a panic attack,” John sighed, weaved his hand through his hair. “I just really don’t like demons sneaking up on me that’s all. He was a demon that dad mentioned in his journal one time. I don’t know him personally.”

Karkat wanted to call him out for lying but before he could, John continued, “What about you? Aren’t you going to give me answers? You seem to know him waaay better than I do. And what’s up with the Kankri thing?”

Karkat swore to himself before deciding that it would be best if he told the truth. Part of it anyway. If he was going to get some honest answers from John, he would need to be honest himself. “Cronus is the brother of the King of Hell,” he answered. John’s face looked placid so he continued. “Kankri is my brother in angel. They met once.”

Karkat’s explanation was brief but John seemed satisfied by it. “Oh, okay then!” Karkat nearly grimaced when John forced a smile. A smile wasn't’ good on John’s face if it wasn’t genuine. “Now that that’s out of the way, should we get going? We have a few hours left till Dave’s house and I want to get there as quickly as possible.”

Karkat nodded as he got back in the car. John did the same and restarted the engine which had gone dead during their fleeting meeting with Cronus. As John started back on track, Karkat started to drift off again. The seconds that he had moved so quickly aggravated him and he would need to recover. Closing his eyes and leaning against the door, he plummeted down into the tempting arms or sleep.

His dreams were not pleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm pretty sure you guys are getting what I'm doing here, right? If you don't then that's okay, I'm going to be dropping meteor-sized puns and references soon. Get it? Punny puns aside, if you've read any other of my fics, you can probably tell where all of this is going. If you haven't that's okay. It doesn't really matter whether you get it or not, I'll reveal everything in due time.
> 
> Anyway, action scenes are my achilles heel. I cannot write one without looking constipated. I had a load of trouble with Karkat and Cronus's three-line-fight scene and I'm starting to question myself about the fight scene at the very end. Oops. Before I spoil anything, I wanna tell you guys how much I enjoyed writing this and that I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Even when I was ready to tear my hair out.
> 
> So I'm introducing more characters into the mix and I'm just praying it doesn't turn into a shambled mess. We know that Cronus is the brother of the King of Hell which, judging by Cronus's status, you could already guess who it is. We also know that Kankri is Karkat's brother (shocker) and that he and Cronus know each other (never saw that coming) and a little bit more about John. A little bit. Microscopic.
> 
> However, with the introduction of more characters comes the introduction of more mysteries. What the hell happened to John? What the hell is the plan? Why did Karkat forget important shit? When will Sollux come into the story? When will Terezi come into the story? *shrug* You guys will find out eventually.
> 
> Writing Cronus is hard! And I swear there are parts of his speech that I haven't properly Cronusified (to make a speech into Cronus's quirk) and his speech patterns are completely out of whack. His character is probably wrong too but hey, I tried. I tried so damn hard. Demons don't generally enter and exit as Cronus does. They just poof in and poof out but since it's Cronus, I figured I could make his entrances and exits more dramatic.
> 
> And yes, I headcanon John's full name as Johnathan Egbert, sue me. I just really like long names, okay? If it's any consolation, John and Karkat's relationship has advanced a bit. A bit. Ehe. Also, I totally failed at John's...thing...I've never experienced one before or watch it happen so I have no accurate way to describe it.
> 
> Tell me what you guys think and feel free to point out mistakes and or errors I made. Thanks for reading~
> 
> -RG


	3. Demon Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Karkat got treated, they decided to travel to Iowa to see Dave's girlfriend. On the way, a trio of demons attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel this chapter needs edits. A lot of them. My writer's block is hounding me again and school is stressing me out. I rushed this for you guys so it definitely doesn't make sense. For that, I apologize. Still, I hope you guys enjoy~

John was getting sleepy. The drive from his house in Connecticut to Dave’s apartment in Texas was a long one and on top of that, he had to travel with an angel already suspecting that he was hiding something. Well, he was, but it was completely acceptable! He went through shit the past few years and he had no intention of reliving them.

He shivered when he recalled Cronus’s cold hands tilting his chin back, exposing the tender flesh of his neck. The car shuddered to a halt as he floored the brakes. Not now. This was not the time to be having panic attacks. Maybe he could get Dave to help him. They had known each other for years and he was sure that he wouldn’t mind having his freaky girlfriend tone down his memories a bit. Or at least his reactions to them…Yes, he would do that.

They had travelled from Connecticut to Texas with John not sleeping, leaving him terribly exhausted. They took the most desolate of roads to avoid getting seen and now that they were back with civilization, John felt a little out of place. He liked the isolation, it gave him room to think. Now his surroundings were all honking cars and flashing lights. Not that there was anything wrong with that! He was perfectly fine having a lot of people around as well.

He glanced at the backseat, smiling when he saw Karkat sleeping peacefully against the window. ‘Even when he’s sleeping he’s got a frown on his face,’ John observed. Karkat’s brows were furrowed as he slept, his hand twitching every now and then. ‘Unless he’s not sleeping peacefully and he’s having a bad dream...’

A car behind him honked and John brought his attention back on the road. The light was green and he was blocking traffic. He sheepishly yelled an apology back at the car that honked at him before pressing onward. Three hours more and he could be at Dave’s house. Then he could rest and hopefully put down the disturbing images that were resurfacing in his head. He sighed as they neared Dave’s house, what will Karkat think once he found out about him?

~ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN~

_Karkat opened his eyes wearily, smiling when he saw the familiar clouds of heaven. He knew it was all a dream!_

_He got up from his cloud, a nice puffy grey cloud that hovered in the air just for him, and jumped down. His wings stretched out from their furled position and he soared through heaven, a maniacal grin on his face. Other angels stared at him, they always did. He was the pariah amongst them but he didn’t care. His wings were back, they were working, and they were pure white._

_He flew through a familiar path, over to Kankri’s cloud. Despite his brother being a big killjoy, he was still his brother. They entered heaven together and although Kankri got the higher ranking position, he still valued Karkat. ‘At least you think so,’ a voice, -his- voice, jeered. Karkat effortlessly swatted the thought away. Of course Kankri cares about him, they were -are- brothers!_

_He landed on Kankri’s cloud, a shimmering white with some threads of red. Kankri was sitting on a smaller cloud shaped like a rock on the middle of it, reading. “Kankri,” Karkat called, going closer._

_Kankri marked his book with a feather from his own wing and shut it, placing it on the rock-shaped cloud and turning to face him. They looked alike, Kankri and he. They both had the same dark brown hair, almost black, actually, and the same chocolate-coloured eyes. They had the same build and same skin tone, a light cream dotted with freckles. The only difference was their height and the way they presented themselves. Kankri was the taller of the two, as well as the older, giving him the privilege of teasing Karkat mercilessly. At least, back when they were human. Kankri also kept his hair combed as neatly as he could while Karkat kept his spiky and wild._

_“Oh! Karkat,” Kankri smiled. “I’ve been waiting for you.” He waved his hand and another cloud, similar to the one he was sitting on, appeared. “Please, sit.” Kankri gestured to the newly-made chair-cloud as he sat back down and waved again. The book he was reading disappeared._

_“Why did you want to see me?” Karkat asked, sitting down._

_“Why, don’t you remember?” Kankri chuckled. “I have a plan, Karkat. And it involves you. All you need to do is-” Kankri stopped mid sentence._

_“Kankri?” Karkat urged. Kankri didn’t speak. He didn’t move either._

_“Kankri?” Karkat tried again. The image of Kankri pixelated, tiny fragments of colour shifting, warping, making the frozen image of Kankri grotesque and surreal._

_Karkat turned around, about to get help when he realized that the rest of heaven froze with Kankri. He knew his brother was important but he didn’t think that heaven would fucking freeze over when he did. The angels were paralyzed in the sky, the clouds were like stone, and the notes they were singing hung heavy in the air. Karkat turned to look at Kankri and he was gone like a puff of smoke._

_He turned back to see if he had gone to the frozen angels but there was nothing there. Just inky blackness. Karkat turned left and right, up and down, every direction but there was nothing but the dark. Heaven had become a void._

_Suddenly, a tremor wracked through his entire frame. It shook him to the core and slid his feet off balance. He tumbled down and fell, he tried to spread his wings, to try and fly back up but there were nothing. His wings were gone. His fall was short and he hit the ground hard. His breath was knocked from him but he didn’t have time to react because a frantic blonde was shaking him._

_He was screaming at him, yelling incomprehensible things. When the blonde’s image was pulled away from him Karkat realized that the reason he couldn’t understand what he was saying was because he couldn’t hear it at all._

_He plummeted down and crashed into glass and wood and earth and metal and rock. He fell until there was nothing left to fall into. Just as his eyes slid close, he saw another image, one that made him smile, ever so slightly. It was a passing image of a brown-haired boy with glasses and eyes the colour of the sky, smiling at him so warmly. The image faded into nothingness and Karkat finally allowed his eyes to rest, his eyes closing._

Just as Karkat’s eyes closed, he was jolted awake. John was looming over him, a smile on his face as usual. So it wasn’t a dream... “Oh, hey Karkat! I didn’t think I’d wake you up, sorry!” Even as he was apologizing, John didn’t look the tiniest bit apologetic at all. But Karkat was glad, John seemed to be back to his normal self.

“Of course you won’t wake me by standing over me like a creepy stalker, where did you get that idea?” said Karkat as he sat up. God damn, he was tired. “Where are we, what time is it?”

“Geez, slow down!” John laughed. “We’re in Texas. I’m getting you to a friend of mine so we can get your wounds properly treated. It’s about early afternoon, I don’t have a watch so I don’t know the exact time. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Karkat got up carefully, feeling every part of his body ache. His arms from firing the gun, his legs for jumping out of the way, and everything else because the universe loved to screw with him. Especially his head. He couldn’t recall it but he was sure he had a dream. ‘What the hell kind of dream was that?’ He chuckled sardonically to himself loudly at the thought, earning a confused glance from John at the action.

“Did you hit your head or something?” John asked with worry as they walked to the apartment complex that was Dave’s home. He was carrying their duffel bags and he seemed to forget whatever happened to him last night. Not that Karkat would know, humans are confusing. “You’re acting overly cheerful. Or maybe not cheerful. Maybe wry?”

“What about you?” Karkat retorted. “What happened to mister panic attack last night?” As the words left his mouth, John’s smile fell and he turned away. Karkat felt a small pang in his heart. He cursed himself for his poor choice of words. John should not be sad. He should always have a smile on his face, a frown didn’t look right on him.

‘From now on, I won’t do anything that makes him sad,’ he promised himself. ‘No more talks about John’s past.’

Their walk to Dave’s apartment complex was short but it felt much longer than that. A pregnant silence hung in the air as they walked wordlessly, John ahead of him and staring at the ground as if he was afraid that something might jump up from it and drag him down. Karkat was looking at the landscape, planning just in case something _did_ launch at them. It would help them better if he had a plan. Sadly, he doesn’t know a single thing about the suburbs so he settled at looking at a bunch of trees and just admiring the view.

They reached the door and Karkat almost slammed right into it but John held him back. The human quickly brought his hand back though and knocked in quick succession on the door. Another long silence descended on them before Karkat broke it by coughing. John looked at him quizzically.

“Uh,” Karkat stammered. He had never done what he was about to do before and he wasn’t sure whether or not he could do it without upsetting John even more. But hey, he can try, can’t he? “I’m sorry, for what I fucking said. About last night.” Great, he can’t even form coherent sentences without pausing every few words. He turned away from John and suddenly found the porch they were standing on extremely interesting. He missed the grateful smile that John had sent him.

The door opened to reveal a woman in a plain mint green dress with a dirty apron over it. Her light caramel hair was tied back and she held a gentle smile on her face. “Yes? Can I help you?” she asked pleasantly.

“Uh, yeah!” John grinned. “We’re here to see Mr. Lancaster. I’m an old friend of his and I wanted to introduce him to someone,” he explained, gesturing to Karkat who was glaring at the foliage a little ways off from the apartment.

At the mention of Karkat, the woman’s eyes took on a gleam and she nodded excitedly. “Of course! I’ll tell him you’re here.” She gently shut the door and padded away, her little footsteps fading as she ascended the stairs.

“Karkat?” John called when he noticed Karkat was still intent on winning a staring contest with the shrubbery. “What are you doing? The bushes won’t eat you, you know!”

“Demons,” Karkat answered flatly. There was no point beating around the bush with John. Again, he watched as John stiffened but he held himself better this time. Their encounter with Cronus seemed to make the human more hardened. He was confident that John could handle the information that he just gave him. “More than one, their scent is faint, so maybe children.”

“Kar-” John’s sentence was cut off when the door opened again. Instead of the cheery woman, a young blonde man stood at the doorway. His platinum blonde hair was combed back carelessly, and his alabaster skin was slicked with sweat and his shirt clung to him. Perhaps he did some workout? His face was impassive even as he regarded both of them, though he did raise an eyebrow in question at Karkat. “Oh! Hey Dave,” John chirped, grinning.

“Sup,” Dave greeted, jerking his head in an upward motion. When John didn’t say anything else, Dave turned his attention to Karkat. At least, that’s what the angel thought. Dave barely moved his head and since his eyes were shielded by the shades he wore, Karkat had no idea what was going on through his head. Not that he could tell even if the shades were off, anyway, Karkat was horrible at reading people, humans especially.

And even if he could read emotions, Dave was a master at hiding his.

“Uh, Dave, could you let us in?” John asked, glancing back at them.

Karkat hissed at him. Even if the demons were children, they were still demons. “You’re doing nothing but drawing attention to us, fuckwit!” he growled in a hushed tone.

John chuckled nervously. “Don’t worry!” he assured. “I’m sure Dave can protect us?” As he ended his statement with a question, he slid past Dave, avoiding the lecture Karkat would most probably give him by placing their lives in a stranger’s hands. Dave stood by the doorframe for an entire minute, looking at Karkat, scrutinizing him. He stepped aside and let him in after looking at the flora that the angel was glaring at.

The second Karkat got in, Dave shut the door and bolted it. “My room’s upstairs,” he said more to Karkat than to John. John already knew. He’d been here enough times to navigate through it even if he was blind.

The three of them ascended the stairs in a straight line. John leading followed by Karkat with Dave at the very end. Dave’s room was at the end of the hall, the closest to the fire escape. John and Karkat stepped aside for Dave to unlock his door. Dave never leaves a door unlocked, even if he would just get apple juice from the kitchen downstairs, he would still lock his door. His bro taught him that.

“Welcome to mi casa,” Dave announced flatly, flourishing his arms around pointlessly. John, despite the recent knowledge of demons, laughed a little before plopping down on the couch. Karkat just ignored the gesture and marched right in. “Bit grumpy there, eh, Karkles?” Karkat noticed, that his speech held a bit of an accent.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” Karkat sighed. John was the first to give him an embarrassing nickname and he didn’t need another. “I’m so fucking tired of people calling me ridiculous nicknames.”

Dave chuckled. “Whatever bro.” He walked away from the grumpy angel to sit beside John on the huge couch. The brunette was already drifting off to sleep. “You awake, dude?” he asked as he poked John’s side. John let out an annoyed grumble in response. In retaliation, Dave forcibly jabbed his finger harsher into John’s side, making the brunette yelp and swat his hand away.

“Geez, Dave!” he exclaimed, yawning. “Can’t I get some rest? I’ve been awake for more than a day, you know.”

Dave chuckled and playfully jabbed him again, making him groan. “Oh come on, you know you love me, dude,” he teased and John outright pushed him off the couch. Their comical exchange made Karkat snort. Dave shot him a questioning look before regaining his cool composure and standing up, dusting himself off. “Anyway, jokes aside, you want the picture done first or-”

“Treat Karkat first,” John interjected, positioning himself a bit more comfortably on the couch. His legs were on one end while his head was on the other. He grabbed a pillow that had likely fallen off weeks ago and fluffed it up before putting it under his head. “Wake me up when you’re done.”

“My, so bossy,” Dave rolled his eyes. John didn’t respond and a second later, light snores were heard. “Man, dude’s spent.”

Karkat stood there awkwardly, waiting for Dave to get his treatment over with. After a few minutes of nothing, he spoke up rather impatiently, “Are we going to get me treated or do we wait until we’re under attack first?”

Dave snickered. “You are as irritable as she said,” he commented. Karkat was confused. John wasn’t a girl and he was sure there were no female demons that know him enough to make that conclusion. Karkat was about to ask who “she” was but was interrupted by Dave. “But if you’re so eager to get under me, then sure, why not?”

Karkat flushed at the suggestion. “What the fuck are you suggesting!? I would rather get sent to hell by the King himself than fucking bed you, asshole!” He started screaming but he lowered his voice when he saw John stir.

Dave all but laughed. “Man, that is hilarious! Out of the seven billion people on Earth, you fell for him,” his laughter died down as he pointed at John. His suggestion made Karkat blush even harder. “But that’s cool, bro. Love is love.”

“I am not in love with Jo-Egbert,” Karkat corrected himself. “He’s just someone who could help me with my fucking injuries!” As he vehemently denied Dave’s implication, more blood rushed to his face.

Angels don’t do that. Angels don’t blush, and they don’t love, and they most certainly don’t lie.

Dave scoffed. “Whatever bro, believe what you wanna believe but I know love when I see it.” Before Karkat could retort, he opened an adjacent door, leading to a cleaner room. While Dave’s living room was in absolute chaos, the adjoining room was immaculate. It looked like it was specially made for treating the injured. “You wanna get treated or not?”

Karkat huffed obstinately and stomped inside, making Dave chuckle again. “If you fucking overstep your boundaries I’ll give you a one-way ticket to the douchebags above.”

Dave snickered. “Oh, I’m flattered that you would do that for a lowly human like me.”

Karkat rolled his eyes as he sat down on a sleek black couch. The room was immaculate, cream-white walls matched the floors and there wasn’t a single speck of dirt or clutter. There were a lot of cabinets though, as well as desks that held sharp-looking equipment. Dave came in moments later with a pair of latex gloves.

“Remove your coat and the shirt,” he instructed. Karkat shot him a glare, but didn’t say anything as he shrugged off the dirty trench coat and pulled up his shirt. Dave ignored the furious scowl that Karkat gave him and focused on his wings. “Turn around.”

Karkat sighed and shifted on the couch. “Spread your wings,” said Dave. His requests seemed to be endless. Karkat was able to stretch his left wing all the way out effortlessly. The best he could manage with his right was a pathetic inch or so. Dave tsked in displeasure. “Man, your wing is seriously fucked up.”

“Try falling out of heaven,” Karkat retorted angrily. Dave, once again, ignored his remarks and fetched a bag of cotton balls and disinfectant.

“I’m gonna have to teach John how to properly fix something…” Dave muttered as he soaked a cotton ball in disinfectant and pressed it to a wound in Karkat’s right wing. Karkat hissed and accidentally slapped Dave with his good wing. “Watch it, birdie.”

“How about a warning next time, asshole?”

 

John was woken up by Karkat two hours later to a setting afternoon sun. He shielded his eyes as the rays slipped through the curtains and made his eyesight blurry. “Karkat?” he groaned, sitting up.

Karkat nodded in assent as he helped John to his feet. “The asshole said we should get you to the apartment basement. That’s where he keeps his photography shit.” Karkat explained before he walked ahead of John.

John rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes as he followed Karkat out the room. He never noticed it before, but without the scowl that usually graced Karkat’s features, the angel looked rather nice. His light brown hair was shades darker than his own, looking almost black and was rather unkempt and messy, spiky at some places. His hazel eyes, when not laced with irritation or annoyance, were surprisingly tranquil. They were expressive too. They conveyed every emotion that crossed Karkat’s mind; they were the window to his soul. Not to mention, they were beautiful too. When the light hits them at just the right angle, it gives them an otherworldly glow, making them look and ethereal yellowish-green. He couldn’t see them when Karkat’s back was turned though, but he assumed they were peaceful for now. Karkat was also a bit tanner than him, not a lot, though, and his skin was scarred. Maybe it was because of all the angelic battles he fought. Despite yelling at him for pointing it out, Karkat was also shorter than him and Dave. It incensed the angel to no end and, John presumed, Dave pointed it out, making him screech and yell.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he rammed right into Karkat’s back. “Holy fuck, Egbert, are you even awake right now?” he growled angrily. “You do know that there are fucking demons outside, right?”

John sputtered. “Uh, yeah. Of course I know!” Lies, he forgot they were even being chased. Momentarily of course, he was still sleepy after all. “You’d think I’d forget?”

Karkat rolled his eyes. “With you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you forgot your own name, you dumb clusterfuck.” John just laughed.

 

Karkat swore at the bright flash of light that came with the camera and he couldn’t help the squawk that came out of him. Both Dave and John laughed, though the latter was trying not to. “What the fuck is that!?” Karkat demanded as he tried to blink out the light. Dave laughed harder.

“That, my feathered friend, is a flash,” Dave scoffed. “It’s the light that flashes with every glorious click of this contraption, the camera. It steals souls and seals them away in a vast pot of inky blackness, never to see the light of which they were taken with, ever again.” Karkat just stared at him blankly. John snorted.

“Jokes aside,” John began, coughing to interrupt when Dave looked like he might descend into one of his raps. “What are we gonna do about those demons?”

The three of them descended into heavy silence. John turned to Karkat, the one with the most experience with fighting demons and shot him a quizzical look. Karkat sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know what we should do. I’m about as useful as a satanic cross in my current situation.”

John then turned to Dave. “I say we move out right now,” the blonde shrugged nonchalantly. “The brighter it is, higher chance we’ve got. Too late to wait for tomorrow anyway, bet those fuckers already signalled the mother ship, and the rest of the armada is on their way. We’re gonna have ourselves an entire fleet here, guys, better watch out!”

“Oh my god, shut the fuck up!” Karkat growled. Dave shot him a look which Karkat met with ferocity. John was off the side, unsure of what to do as Karkat and Dave waged their staring war. He had a feeling that there was something unspoken between them but he shook the feeling off.

Dave glared at Karkat sharply before turning away. “I’ll get my car.” With that statement, he jogged upstairs. John turned to Karkat, to ask him what was that about, but he turned away. John frowned and followed Dave upstairs; the two of them were hiding something from him.

When Karkat left the basement, John and Dave were already waiting at the front door. Both of them were dressed in black. John was carrying three duffel bags instead of two and Dave had a set of keys in his hand. He ushered Karkat away from the basement door as he descended down.

“What is he going to do there?” Karkat asked. The woman from earlier saw them by the door and she waved enthusiastically. Confused, Karkat waved back. John, upon seeing Karkat waved, turned to the woman, smiled and waved, before tugging Karkat out the door.

“He’s fixing the ID’s,” John answered and steered Karkat inside the Chevelle’s passenger seat before dumping the duffel bags in the back seat. “The other one is Dave’s,” John explained as he got in the driver’s seat. “He said we’re going to meet him on the way to Iowa, he’s going to follow us to make sure nothing else will.” Karkat made a noise of understanding as they pulled out of the driveway and sped out.

It was dusk when they left and by the time that Karkat was starting to doze off again, it was already night, the moon high in the sky. “You awake, Karkat?” John called, eyes focused on the road.

“No, I’m still asleep, this is dream Karkat, stepping in to ensure that the annoying human always has someone to bother,” he snapped, stretching. “How far are we?”

John hummed thoughtfully. “About halfway there, why?”

Karkat shook his head, unfastening the seat belt that John clasped on for him. “No reason, just that Stridick is doing a horribly at the ‘making sure no one else follows us’ part of his job.”

John’s lips set into a thin line. “How many?”

“Three, but they’re children,” reported Karkat. “But since I’m like this, they’ll probably be hard to kill...”

As Karkat trailed off, a deafening screech vibrated in the air, shattering the glass and making John swerve uncontrollably in his attempt to rid the ears of the horrid ringing. “They’re here!?”

Karkat scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t be silly. That’s just one of them.” Using the broken window as an exit point, Karkat crawled out in spite of John’s protests. “I’ll be fine, numbskull! Just keep driving and try not to crash!”

After about ten minutes of balancing on the roof of the moving car -which would be otherwise impossible unless you were non-human- the familiar odor of sulfur and the distinct sound of flapping wings were heard. They had arrived; one of them at least.

He was just a child, as Karkat estimated. He was about as tall as Karkat but he was more baby-faced and his posture was extremely awkward. Unproportional black bat-like wings sprouted from his back and claws replaced his fingers and toes. A new demon, such a shame. His thin black tail whipped around agitatedly as he snapped his jaws hungrily, the wind whipped his blonde hair around, making it dance. They sized each other up, unmoving.

Then, the demon struck. It lunged at Karkat, fangs bared and claws outstretched. Karkat easily dodged it, stepping aside, the demon sailing ahead and landing on the windshield. Karkat heard John screech as he abruptly stopped the car, making the demon lurch off the car and Karkat tumble off balance, hooking onto the side of the car for support. No sooner did John stop was he flooring the accelerator again, running over the demon. Karkat cringed at the brutality of it. When neither of the two demons came, he swung back inside the car.

John was oddly unemotional, like he didn’t just run over a thirteen to fourteen year-old boy. Granted, it was a demon but the coldness of his expression shook Karkat. He leaned over at the back, grabbing one of their duffel bags and taking out a short sword before climbing back up again. They’d be back.

Sure enough, distant shadows approached their car. Karkat was grateful no one was driving this late because he had no idea how a trio of flying bat-like creatures fighting a lone man in a dirty trench coat atop a moving car would look like to humans. The first one, the tallest, had a torn right wing, like Karkat, a menacing snarl on his face. He was flanked by two others, a shorter blonde and a brunette about his height.

“Ed,” the brunette asked to the tallest, Ed, worriedly. “I don’t think we should-”

“Hush, Tor,” Ed interrupted. “They’re weak, free dinner.” He turned to the youngest. “What do you think, Rai?”

Rai whimpered and cowered beneath Karkat’s furious gaze. He said nothing.

The car shuddered as they drove over a particularly bad bump. Karkat narrowed his eyes at the three demons in front of him. Ed was seething. At another bump, the tallest dove for him. Karkat brought the short sword up, blocking his claws and delivering a swift kick to his stomach. As Ed slid back, Tor took his place, putting up a much better fight. Karkat blocked off every swipe of his claws but every time he tried to attack back, Tor would jump away.

The car swerved as John all but screamed. Karkat glanced back at him, the smallest, Rai was on the hood of the car, staring at John hungrily. The moment his attention drifted away from Tor, the brunette latched onto his arm, sinking his teeth into it like an animal. The cry that Karkat gave was deafening.

John, upon hearing Karkat’s exclamation of pain, swerved the car harshly to the left and then to the right and then back to the left, trying to shake the little demon from his hood. The blonde held fast, jabbing his claws through the metal and clinging on. A couple of frantic thuds resounded on the roof, denting it, before another screech echoed in the night. Karkat sailed ahead of the car, skidding on the ground.

John quickly changed lanes to avoid hitting the downed angel, but still stuck close enough for Karkat to hop back on. Sure enough, the angel stood to his feet, the sword gripped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white. He leapt onto the roof of the car savagely, swinging the sword down as he went. A slash appeared on the roof of John’s car.

Karkat gasped desperately for breath, when he was knocked to the ground, he felt the wounds that Dave treated ache terribly. He swore his wing was in even worse condition now, as well. He pulled the sword from the roof of John’s car, glaring daggers at Ed. The tallest demon stood between him and Rai who was terrorizing John. Tor had taken to the air to try and catch his breath.

Karkat surged forward, swinging the sword in an upward motion. Ed ducked under it and lacerated his leg. Gritting his teeth, Karkat crouched down and rolled, dragging Ed with him. The demons sharp claws raked into his skin as he rolled on the metal roof of the car, towards the edge. With a swift kick with his (mostly) uninjured leg, Karkat sent Ed tumbling away from the car a second time.

He crawled back to the centre of the car which sported a massive crater, presumably from Tor’s brutal slam. The brunette tackled him onto the roof before throwing him off. Too bad for him, Karkat wasn’t too easy to kill. He limped his way to the hood, wheezing. Rai was still situated on the hood but he was only holding on with one hand, the other was busy trying to reach John.

Karkat dropped onto the hood and snatched Rai by the hair roughly. The child screamed and started scratching his arm, the angry red lines dripped more blood on the car. Karkat hauled Rai back onto the roof before swinging his sword again. His arms were tired.

Rai avoided a direct hit but the sword caught his chest, making a shallow wound. The demon hissed. Karkat stepped forward to try and slice his head off. ‘He was barely fighting,’ he told himself. ‘You’ll be fine.’

A great weight hit him from the back as Tor slammed into him again, making the roof cave in deeper. He pinned Karkat down by his back, just inches above his wings. Karkat screamed. Tor’s claws dug into his skin and he slowly drug them down, nearing the feathery limbs he treasured so much, tearing into the trenchcoat in the process.

A loud gunshot pierced the air and Tor’s claws left the small of Karkat’s back at it. A loud thud indicated that someone had fallen off the car and onto the concrete. Tor squawked in horror as he leapt off the car, flying to his fallen kin. From behind them, Karkat saw a sleek black car. There were no demons in the vicinity anymore, and with no fight to keep him awake, he promptly collapsed on the roof.

John cringed at the sound of the gunshot and angled the side mirror to check who it was. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar black Impala. He couldn’t see the driver but he didn’t need to. It was either Dave or his brother and both of them were good to John. He grew worried when Karkat didn’t re-enter the car though.

He parked a few miles from the main road. He would need to clean the car and fix it as much as he can. He gasped when he saw Karkat lying unconscious on the roof, painting it red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The demons names were completely random (not really but it was a whim) and I swear, the fight scene killed me. I have no idea what I did, I'm sorry. By the way, how do you centre text?
> 
>  
> 
> **Edit:** I can't write Dave for shit. I am very sorry for that, as well.


	4. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat finally meets Dave's mysterious girlfriend. Tensions between him and John rise, and Karkat's questions are doubled with John not providing a single answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm sorry for the long time it took me to write this. I've been feeling a bit down. lately, and it affected my writing speed, again, sorry. Anyway, this is a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you like it!

The ceiling was unfamiliar. That was the first thing that Karkat noticed when he awoke. He was lying on a bed, the covers pulled up to his chest and his head propped up by a multitude of pillows. His entire body burned, his limbs ached and scars covered every inch of him he could see. He made no move to get up from the bed even though his mind was swarming with thoughts about John. Was he safe?

The door creaked open and he automatically turned his head towards it. He regretted it as pain shot up his head, pulsing with liquid fire under his skin and overtaking his senses. He clenched his eyes to try to manage it.

“Still hurts, huh?” the voice was nonchalant and held a light accent. It wasn’t John. “Can you speak?”

Karkat tried to answer Dave but all that came out from him was a pained groan. Dave’s face remained impassive. He pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down, assessing any further damage. “John’s fine,” he informed when Karkat’s gaze wouldn’t leave him. Almost immediately, the angel’s intense stare mellowed down before he closed his eyes again, relaxing.

“3,” Dave began, earning a confused look from Karkat. “Three broken bones. An arm, a leg, and a rib. You win the award for Breaking Bones: The Series, Karkles.”

Karkat groaned again. “If it’s any help, you’ll recover in a few months. Don’t go Karate Kid on any more demons though,”

Karkat huffed. It felt like more than a few bones. Like his entire body to be exact. Then again, he was weak and wounded when he fought. That might be why. “I’ll get John, let him know his guardian angel recovered from his agelong slumber.” Karkat only noticed the smirk on Dave’s face when he caught a glimpse of him before the blonde shut the door.

Stupid blonde. He wasn’t in love with John. It wasn’t possible. Dave’s non-verbal suggestion was absurd.

At Dave’s departure, he was alone again, with only his tumultuous thoughts to keep him company. Fuck, he was sleepy…

Before he could descend back to sleep, the door opened again. He opened his eyes to see John being ushered inside the room. Dave was by the door, muttering incomprehensible things to him. When the blonde was done, he gave John a shove further in the room and left, shutting the door with him.

John sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he darted his eyes around the room. ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’ Karkat wanted to ask, but it came out as a garbled groan. John finally turned to him and meekly sat down on the chair that Dave previously occupied.

“Um, Karkat,” he began, softly. “I want to apologize,” he whispered. “You wouldn’t have been hurt if it wasn’t for me.”

Karkat rolled his eyes and grunted in response. John continued, “I mean, if I had just stopped driving, I could have helped you, somehow…” Karkat scoffed. If John had stopped the car, the demons would have flocked to them and possibly wounded John. Or killed them both.

“Are you mad?” John asked nervously after a brief period of silence. “I mean, I understand if you are. I’m supposed to help you get better and you got worse and…” Karkat tuned John out. The last thing he needed was for someone to feel responsible for something that he did. It was his fault he got hurt, not John’s. If he could speak, he would probably yell at the brunette.

“Karkat?” John called, poking Karkat’s arm very lightly. The small action sent pain through the limb. “Karkat, are you awake?” Karkat simply glared at John. Of course he was awake! He didn’t sleep with his eyes open. “Oh, good, you are. I just wanna say I’m sorry.”

A deep rumbling sound reverberated from Karkat’s throat. ‘I heard you the first time!’ he wanted to say. No words came out from him.

“I guess I’ll just leave you here, then,” John announced. He stood up from the chair, and looked at Karkat sadly, before leaving. Despite only making guttural sounds, Karkat felt exhausted. He sighed and closed his eyes once more, lulling himself to sleep with thoughts of fluffy white clouds and the choral of heaven.

 

It had been almost a week since Karkat got injured and the angel was coming along nicely. His wounds have healed, for the most part, and his wings were in a much better condition. He was still diagnosed unable to fly by Dave, but the fracture in his right wing has healed. It would only be a while before he could fly again. He only had to stay with John for a few more weeks. The thought oddly saddened him.

Karkat was still living with Dave and his mysterious girlfriend in the middle of Waterloo, Iowa. He didn’t know who she was, but he assumed she knew him. Dave, after all, had known more things about him than he was comfortable with. It put him on edge though. The closest he had gotten to a human was John, and he sure as hell didn’t fraternize with demons. Could it be another angel?

A crack of lightning brought Karkat’s attention from the book he was reading to the window. Pellets of rain smacked into the glass as the tumultuous storm continued. A series of knocks came from the opposite side of the door as another bolt of lightning zig-zagged through the sky. The door opened before Karkat could answer. It was John.

The human continued his pity-fest for Karkat’s injuries for an entire week and a half until Karkat yelled at him to get his act together. He hated it when John was frowning, and during the majority of those days, John was always frowning. Karkat detested it.

“Hey, Karkat,” he greeted. “Dave said you can come down, now. We thought up a plan to get rid of the demons chasing us. He also wants you to meet his girlfriend.” John smiled.

Karkat rolled his eyes and marked the page of the book he was reading. “About time. I’ve been wondering who the hell is stupid enough to put up with Strider for the rest for their lives,” Karkat scoffed. He and Dave weren’t really at each others throats, they were getting along quite nicely, if Karkat was being honest. But he wasn’t going to admit that.

Karkat stood up and put the book down, exiting the room with John. They walked side-by-side, with John slightly ahead of him. “Big storm, huh?” John mused, looking out the windows. As if to emphasize his point, a bolt of lightning flashed as he finished his sentence. Karkat hummed in assent.

A comfortable silence descended on them, only broken by the sounds of lightning and thunder. “Okay, try not to freak out, about this, but Dave’s girlfriend tends to….lick...people. Sometimes,” John warned. Karkat couldn’t help but smile. She reminded him of Terezi. She would occasionally lick people to ‘get to know them’. It was immeasurably weird, but he came to associate it with her. If she didn't do that, he would feel like a part of her was missing, however weird it is.

“Don’t worry,” Karkat assured. “I can handle it.”

They descended the stairs in silence. Another flash of lightning cracked the silence and the entire house blacked out. John yelped and Karkat immediately dove for the railing. “Karkat?” John called into the darkness with a small voice.

“Here,” the angel replied, extending a hand and groping the empty space, trying to look for John. John clung to Karkat’s hand harshly, making Karkat wonder if he was scared of the dark too. But it was probably just to make sure they don't tumble down the stairs like slinkies. John's eyesight was horrible during the day but in the darkness, he was as blind a bat

Karkat snickered. “Scared of the dark too, John?” Karkat teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Fuck off, Karkat,” John snapped a bit rudely. Karkat was taken aback. He was honestly surprised. He had never expected that kind of reaction from John. He couldn't find what had offended John. Karkat didn't take him as someone who was easily offended. Then again, he knew completely nothing about him aside from his name. 

John wrenched his hand from Karkat's and stomped down the stairs unhappily, navigating in the darkness by himself. Karkat was worried he'd fall down and hurt himself, but his pride kept him from saying anything. Unlike before, at the front of Dave's apartment, he didn't apologize.

Karkat was relieved when he saw a faint flicker of light at the bottom of the stairs. He was also glad that John managed to get down the steps without any hassle. But they're just stairs; Karkat was overreacting again.

"Sup, Princess," Dave greeted. He was holding a candle, where the flickering light came from. As usual, his face was impassive. John was beside him, waiting for Karkat with a scowl. Karkat felt a little bit guilty, but he didn't apologize.

"Go fuck yourself, Strider," Karkat greeted back. Dave snorted. He then frowned. The expression was miniscule, but it was there. John went ahead of them as Dave and Karkat fell side-by-side.

"What did you do to fluff up windyboy's feathers?" he asked quietly. Karkat was a little bit impressed at how he could immediately tell that something was wrong with the brunette.

"I didn't do anything!" Karkat hissed. "I just commented on him being scared of the dark."

Dave sighed. "I thought he was over this..." he mumbled lowly. He didn't intend for it to be heard, but the angel heard it regardless. "Nevermind," he dismissed after a few minutes of inaudible mumbling. "He'll get his shit together again. Hopefully."

Karkat had more questions now. He wanted to ask them when the moment was taken away from him by an overwhelmingly familiar scent. Chalk.

A familiar woman stepped out of the shadows with a shit-eating grin on her face. Her gold eyes were hidden behind red triangular shades and her auburn hair looked brown in the darkness. She was a bit taller than Karkat remembered, but thankfully, she was still shorter than he was. She would ceaselessly tease him otherwise. Despite the small changes in her appearance, like her height and slightly longer hair, she was still the same to Karkat's eyes. She was still Terezi.

"Heya, Karkles," she greeted, cackling.

“Terezi!” Karkat exclaimed, eyes widening in bewilderment. “How?” The question hung in the air like a fucking balloon, waiting for the right words to be sad for it to pop and spread all the pent-up emotions around like confetti at a child’s birthday party.

The question was unanswered, however, as Karkat ran up to her, and threw himself at her, hugging her tightly. Terezi didn’t look surprised. Instead, she hugged him back, patting his hair. She pulled away after a few minutes.

“How are you alive?” Karkat gasped. “What happened to your wings?”

“I’ll explain on the way to the living room, Karkles,” Terezi grinned. “We need to make some plans for the demons after your sweet cherry ass too.” Karkat rolled his eyes. The two angels walked off, making Dave follow them, hand stretched, to illuminate the floor they were walking on. John fell back.

The trip to the living room was filled with the angels’ chatter, an ancient language lost to Dave and John’s ears. The archaic words rolled from the angels’ tongues with ease, and the two humans fell to their own conversation.

“I didn’t think they’d know each other,” John commented, intrigued. He sped up his pace a little, and he was now walking alongside Dave.

“Well, Terezi is a former angel,” Dave replied, stretching out his hand a bit further. The light from the candle in his hand illuminated the backs of the two conversing angels, providing them with even more light. “Ever occur to you that maybe they had some tea parties and some adult naptime up there in the clouds?”

John tilted his head in confusion. It never occurred to him that maybe, they did have tea parties up in heaven. Hell, Terezi and Karkat could be best friends, even. “Not really, I haven’t really thought about what it would be like up there in heaven. And I have no intention of finding out for myself.” John had absolutely zero intention of dying. He’d fight his way to live, if he had to. But he wasn’t looking forward to that, either.

Dave shook his head. “Of course you wouldn’t.” He fell silent, and John did as well. Beneath Dave’s mask of impassiveness lied genuine concern for the brunette beside him. He and John had been friends since they had met at the camp, and he knew how the gears in the other’s head turned well enough. John was obviously conflicted, and scared. He couldn’t blame him though. John had the worst of their frequent dealings with demons.

“What are you going to do?” Dave asked after a while, turning to John. The brunette shrugged. “C’mon dude, you have to come up with a plan. It’s been a week and a half already.” Dave, despite never admitting it, was worried for John. The brunette was scared half-to-death at the mere prospect of demons ever coming to a one-foot radius of him, and now that they were planning on taking the fight to them, he had no idea what John wouldl do.

“Well, that’s what we’re going to talk about today, right?” John mused. Terezi and Karkat stopped in front of a table in the living room. Dave had moved that table from the dining room for the purpose of their planning.

Dave handed the candle to John who went around the table and set it down. He helped Terezi spread some diagrams and notes all over the table. “Okay, so we’re trying to think up of a way to get the demons to stop chasing after Karkat, right?” John clarified. The agreement was unanimous.

“Okay, some questions first. Karkat,” he turned to the former angel. Karkat was sitting beside Dave on the couch, having sat there when John and Terezi were laying out the plans. Karkat regarded him with a questioning gaze. John swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “Why are the demons after you?”

Karkat paused, finding the floor more interesting. “I don’t know,” he admitted. He had absolutely no idea as to why the demons were intent on killing him.

“Well…” From the tone of John’s voice, he was at a loss.

“I have an idea!” Terezi piped in. “While Karkles tries to get his amnesia under control, he and John should move to Canada to escape the demons.” Karkat was confused. He didn’t recall having amnesia. Terezi continued. “Dave and I will stay south and try to get as much information on the demons as we can.”

The four of them became silent as they pondered over Terezi’s proposal. “Alright,” John reluctantly agreed after a while. “We should probably make plans on where to take him…” John pulled a rolled-up paper from underneath the desk and unrolled it, revealing a map of North America. He placed it over the various papers over the desk. Terezi ambled away from their circle of light and returned with a box. She emptied it, revealing small pushpins of varying colours.

Dave and Karkat idly talked as Terezi and John began pinning possible locations. “Terezi,” John began, calling Terezi’s attention to him. He kept his voice quiet as he spoke. “I think I need some help.”

“What for John?” her normally boisterous voice was toned down a bit.

“Well, I’ve been having nightmares about him,” John confessed. “Every night, actually. I think it’s impairing my ability to make decisions.” He placed a pin somewhere in California as Terezi pinned somewhere in Canada. “I guess it’s starting to damage the way I talk with you guys too. I’m more...I don’t know, paranoid? I need some help in forgetting him.”

"Oh no! John, please tell me it's not who I think it is," Terezi gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "By that, I mean I have absolutely no idea who you're talking about since you're playing the goddamned pronoun game." Terezi cackled.

"Oh right," John chuckled sheepishly. "I mean," he lowered his voice. Karkat and Dave were both busy with their own conversation and hadn’t spared them a glance, but it couldn't hurt to be careful. "Cronus."

Instantly, the grin on Terezi's face dropped. “I thought you were over him?” she asked, “It’s been about three years, right?” John nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be able to forget what happened. In time.”

“That’s the thing, Terezi,” John sighed. “We don’t have time. You said it yourself, the demons are getting more and more agitated, they’re getting more aggressive and we don’t know why. Apparently, Karkat doesn’t know either.”

The woman frowned. “Well, you have to somehow overcome it, then. We’ll be here for you, John, but we can’t just make something like that disappear.”

“Can’t you use some angel magic to dull it?”

“Do you want me to take out half your memory with it?”

John sighed again in resignation. He would have to face it alone, and that terrified him. He didn’t want to go back to that horrid camp. The innumerable scars on him were enough proof. “I’ll figure it out later...where should we take Karkat?”

On the map, most of the places marked were harsh and had very little population. Some of them were in extremely crowded cities and yet others were in secluded areas. “I don’t know,” Terezi pursed her lips in thought.

“Hey Karkles, you like warm places, right?” she called to the seated angel.

Karkat looked up from an intense conversation with Dave and furrowed his brows in confusion at her. Terezi repeated the question again. “I like warm places, but not too hot,” reminded Karkat. How did that question have anything to do with their current issue?

“Okay then,” Terezi grinned. “You two are going to Alaska!” Karkat sighed. He should have expected that. Still, Terezi had a point. If they were dealing with Cronus, he would probably know Karkat’s preference of temperature. Cronus had a way with information. Going as far north as they could without freezing to death was their best shot at staying hidden. “You okay with that, John?” John nodded.

“Then it’s settled. You guys are moving in an hour,” Dave announced, interjecting Terezi. Karkat stared at him in surprise. Dave smirked at him. “What? Did you expect to get sleep?”

Karkat grumbled beneath his breath. Dave patted his back playfully. The storm was still raging outside, but he and John managed to get to the chevelle without much difficulty. John had packed their bags for them, and with a roar of the engine, they sped off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I have no idea how to write Dave. And Terezi. And John, apparently. Screw it.


	5. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A formal apology.

So. The dreaded day has come. I have fallen out of love with Homestuck. Somewhere, along my journey, the spark that Homestuck gave me is gone, dwindled down to nothingness. I feel, as a writer, that if I try to force myself to write when I no longer want to, the quality of my work will decrease or my love and passion for writing will disappear. This is part of the reason to my abnormally long hiatus. I apologize to everyone who stuck with me this far. I am truly, irrevocably sorry.

Someday, perhaps my love for Homestuck might be rekindled. I don't know. Maybe, that spark that drew me to the fandom will beckon me again. I don't know. What I do know is that if I leave this hanging any more than I already did, the disappointed I will have for myself will only continue to grow. I know I said that I will never abandon this fic. I though that too. I genuinely thought that despite the fact that I have grown so distant from the Homestuck community, and that the fandom didn't drive me to the same emotional heights as it used to do, couldn't bring me anywhere even remotely close, I would be able to finish this. I am so, so wrong. For this, I apologize. I apologize to everyone who stuck with me this far, even if it was a short journey. I apologize to the readers anticipating the next chapter that will never come.

There are no words I can use to describe my feeling of regret and disappointment of abandoning this fic, and the Homestuck fandom altogether. I will still be reading HS fics. I will simply no longer be trying to push myself to write them when all the desire to do so has gone. For this reason, I will declare AWAS abandoned indefinitely, and orphan it.

I had such high hopes for this fic. I planned an ending, a happy ending, where John and Karkat get together, but my fire has been lost during the journey to he end. I feel that if I try and push myself to continue, the quality of AWAS will decline so rapidly, I would not be able to look at it without cringing.

Again, I am sorry for abandoning this fic.

Although I do not want to get anyone's hopes up, I might try and rewrite this in the far, distant future. When future me has overcome the stump that I could not, and has brought you an end that you deserve. However, I can't see such a future if I continue to stay stagnant. For my sake, both as a writer and as a person, I will move on to different fandoms and try new things, in a faint attempt to get myself invested in anything again.

Thank you. For reading AWAS, even for such a short amount of time, thank you.

I hope that you all are doing better than I am.

-RG


End file.
